Consider The Sand
by wowsugarpuss
Summary: Duncan goes to the beach with Logan and Veronica. Sorta-sequel to One Headlight.


**1.**

It was eight or nine a.m. when Logan turned up on Duncan's door step with obviously decreased hand-eye co-ordination and bleary eyes. "Hey, man!"

Duncan tried not to look confused, but there was something about a drunken morning visit that really got in under your defenses. "What the hell are you doing, Logan? Did you drive here?"

"No, I walked the hills." He rolled his eyes and Duncan's jaw clenched just a little. Just enough to show Logan that it was too early for sarcasm.

Duncan wasn't quite sure how to deal with Logan. He seemed happy enough—peppy even. It was almost as if he had been drinking all night and just not gone to sleep yet, but Duncan noted that his appearance was much too neat and put together for that to actually be the case. He stood; clinging a little to the doorway, praying his parents hadn't woken up yet, and tried to think of something to say. Eventually he settled on, "Veronica's going to kill you. What's she gonna say when she finds out?"

Logan's lips pursed slightly. His eyes crinkled. He had the audacity to actually giggle—and wasn't _that_ manly—at the remark. "Dude, go ask her."

"Huh?" Duncan looked shell-shocked and he didn't like it.

"She's in the car, c'mon."

And with that segue Duncan found himself being dragged towards Logan's car where a perky and bright Veronica sat in the driver's seat—engulfed by the giant car. It looked absurd. Logan popped the backdoor and dragged himself in gesturing for Duncan to join him but before Duncan could actually get one foot in the car Veronica's voice stopped him.

"Uh, uh. You're driving. I'm not chauffeuring you both around and if you get in the back Logan's just gonna force-feed you vodka."

Logan grinned brilliantly in Veronica's direction and Duncan felt his gut clench a little. Between them they were going to give him some ulcer. "I'm hurt that you would think that of me."

Much to Duncan's surprise Veronica rounded the front of the car, slipping into the passenger's side rather than the backseat to join Logan. He couldn't help but be a little relieved. Turning to Veronica he asked quietly, "You're not pissed that he drove?"

For a moment confusion covered over her pretty, little face. "He didn't. He was like this when we left, I drove."

It was Duncan's turn for the confusion when he replied, "When you left?"

"Yeah, he was already like this when I got up. Found the bottle in my kitchen cabinet."

"Why was he in your kitchen when you woke up?"

Veronica quirked an eyebrow while Logan chuckled into the mouth of his bottle. Realization hit Duncan like a truck as his eyes widened.

"Her dad's out of town, dude."

"Oh, right."

Just _great_. A post-post-coital Logan and Veronica had just driven right up into his lap. Duncan _loved_ mornings.

"Yeah," Veronica breathed. She was flushed the tiniest bit red and Duncan would think it was adorable if he hadn't just found out his best friend was nailing her.

Yeah… it was going to be a long day.

Duncan suddenly realized he had no idea where they were heading to, or why. "Where we going again?"

"Beach." Veronica nodded.

"Can I ask why?"

"It's pirate day!" Logan exclaimed from the back.

Veronica's face covered over with an adoring smile, she obviously thought he was cute when he was being obnoxious.

"What?"

"It's some shit where you're supposed to talk like pirates for the day, so, like there's a treasure hunt at the beach."

Duncan cocked an eyebrow in Veronica's direction. "And we're five again, how?"

She shrugged. "He's been like this for the past hour, I'm sick of arguing about it. Pirates, it is."

Duncan was sure Logan had found some way to bribe or persuade her. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what it was. It would actually be pretty nice if he could have a thought for more than a minute straight that wasn't something relating to naked Veronica. Usually naked Veronica would be fine as a mind's eye distraction but when joined by naked Logan and 'persuading' Duncan just wished he's kept his big mouth shut. Or maybe his door. Yeah, he should have never answered his door at eight in the morning.

**2.**

The conversation in the car was strained at best. For his part Duncan wasn't really helping with his noncommittal answers and grunts as he tried to be as polite as possible while concentrating on the road and wholeheartedly ignoring the looks Logan was giving Veronica from the backseat. The girl in question was talking enough for the three of them, explaining about cases, talking about school, about clothes, about cards—anything that would break the awkward silence that had been following them around since she had gotten back to Neptune.

When Veronica—while discussing the necessity to take a trip to LA the next weekend for one of her dad's clients—turned to Logan and asked, "You gonna come with me?" Duncan could see the crude joke forming in Logan's eyes from the rear view mirror and swerved the car around the next corner. Logan went flying across the backseat, but that's what he got for not wearing a seat belt.

"What the fuck, dude?" he grimaced.

Veronica was almost choking on her laugher, red faced and eyes streaming as she turned in her seat to watch Logan crawl back up off the floor. Duncan couldn't help but crack the slightest grin.

He cleared his throat, trying not to laugh. "Sorry, man. There was a squirrel."

"In the middle of the road?" Logan's tone was disbelieving and about an octave higher than normal.

"Sure." Duncan nodded with a shrug and inflection that made Veronica snort.

Duncan really didn't want to still be kind of in love with Veronica. Especially after he told her he wasn't, not that he really could have said anything else without losing access to his best friend. Logan wasn't known for sharing. Well, he was in the way that the majority of his girlfriends cheated on him if he didn't cheat on them first, but he wasn't known for liking it.

It was a rep that Veronica had only taken issue with once, when she was a little tipsy at some random party. Logan had been in another room doing God knows what—because despite the topic of conversation that occurred Veronica did in fact trust Logan—and she had been perched on the couch with Duncan, a bottle of beer in her lap.

"I trust him; it's just—look how he's been this past year. Do you even know the names of his last few girlfriends? Because I don't think they stuck around long enough for anyone to catch them."

Duncan couldn't say that it had been his favorite topic ever. The fact that he had been kind of tipsy too made it all the more difficult to do the honorable thing and be honest. The beer had really kind of wanted him to tell Veronica that Logan was an irredeemable slut and she should get the hell out of there before she caught something. Duncan had forgotten what it was like to be drunk without antidepressants. It was fun… in a dangerous way where he was going to have to staple his mouth shut. "He's not going to cheat on you."

She had sighed around a smile. "Yeah, I know."

Puppy love was really just no fun to witness when you weren't directly involved. Or when you were secretly repressing your feelings for one of the parties involved, or when the other was your best friend. Duncan had quickly decided he needed another drink and maybe some new company, leaving Veronica on the couch as Logan finally found her—his tongue wedging itself down her throat as Duncan had departed post haste.

**3.**

The beach was full of people when they finally pulled in, finding a spot big enough for the SUV. Logan was out of the car much faster than he should have been able to in his intoxicated state—wrapping himself around Veronica as he gestured the neck of the bottle to her. She shook her head once, an arm brushing round his waist.

"Nah, I don't start on the hard stuff till lunch."

Duncan could see the slight scrunch in her eyes that told him that really might be one of her mother's rules. Logan didn't seem to notice, and that pissed Duncan off more than it should considering Logan couldn't actually see Veronica's eyes. He was too close. That pissed Duncan off too.

Logan proved he wasn't quite as oblivious as Duncan had first thought when he pressed his mouth quietly to Veronica's and muttered, "Don't sweat it, I don't start bludgeoning high school kids till dinner anyway."

She smiled in the face of his horribly inappropriate joke and Duncan shook his head, turning away as Veronica's mouth swept in like she was going to kiss Logan again.

Being the third wheel was exactly no fun, he was going to have to find himself a girlfriend or just roll right on. It wasn't like Duncan wasn't in demand with the female populous of Neptune—but… it was the summer before college. He was about to leave. Oh yeah, and he was still hung up on Veronica. That too.

There were several things in Duncan's life that he never wanted to bear witness to. One of these things was Dick Casablancas in full pirate get-up, stumbling around on the beach-front as an audience of drunken teenagers (all in the same style of dress to some extent or another) provided a background of screams and hollers and pirate shanties. He was starting to feel somewhat underdressed when someone finally spotted the three of them.

"Dudes, where's the costumes?" Dick demanded.

Logan laughed and peeling himself away from Veronica fished two eye patches out of his pocket. He snapped the elastic of one, sending it soaring in Duncan's vague direction. He caught it and sighed in amusement as the gazes of his peers prompted him to put it on.

Logan had a little more trouble as he pulled the band over his face, accidentally pinging the elastic in his eye. "Shit, that fucking hurt like a bitch!"

Veronica rolled her eyes and pulled it down into place. Duncan couldn't imagine why she would enjoy being Logan's keeper. Whatever, it was her choice. He got why—to start with—she stuck close to Logan at events like this, she was still wary of the company of 09ers. Hell, she was probably still wary of the company of people in general after a year of ostracism. Duncan felt guilty about it, but hey, he wasn't an active party and if Logan could get adoring smiles and sleepovers after everything he'd done then Duncan figured everything could probably be forgiven and forgotten. That was only fair, right?

**4.**

Maybe barbeque had been a slight stretch of the truth. Generally, in Duncan's experience barbeques included more food and less liquor, however when he had tried in vain to argue this point he had been quickly shot down by a very _logical_ conclusion that had included something about pirates ships burning down. He guessed it might actually have more to do with the fact that Dick had forgotten to take any of the supplies with him and everyone else was much too happy getting baked or blasted to actually go get some.

Duncan had soon given into the idea of rum for lunch, especially when the sea shanties started up again and some more humiliation was dished out to those intoxicated enough to try impressions or dances. You couldn't get much further from real pirates than spoilt, over-privileged Californian kids.

People milled around the beach and thus far nobody had called the Sheriff to come stop them, it was surprising but Duncan wasn't going to complain. His gaze drifted over to Veronica once or twice—who having left Logan by his side—seemed to be having a good time. Her mouth split beautifully and Duncan couldn't help letting the corner of his mouth rise in response. But she was caught up, didn't even know he was there.

"Are you still into her?"

His reverie was broken by Logan's question, his tone was only half joking and Duncan felt his eyes go wide. Shuffling a foot around in the sand where they lay Duncan averted his gaze, feeling more and more like he'd enjoy stabbing someone at that moment. Maybe Logan… And _what_ was up with all the violent tendencies lately?

Suddenly Duncan found himself the centre of Logan's full attention as the boy asked, "Do you _love_ her?" this obviously proving that Logan just wasn't drunk enough for Duncan's tastes. If he could notice something like that then he was either supremely paranoid… or Duncan had 'I love Veronica' tattooed on his forehead. Neither would really be a good thing, didn't stop it being true though.

"Do you?" Duncan shot back defensively aware that he was seriously blowing his cover. Stupid beer.

"Don't even…"

"It's nothing; we just—we never got closure, y'know?"

"We'd better have different ideas about closure, 'cause I'm not letting you fuck my girlfriend, dude."

"I don't want to fuck your girlfriend."

"She's gonna be really offended—"

"This isn't a joke, Logan!"

"Okay, man, I'm sorry. I am. I don't know what you want me to do."

"Just have some fucking decorum. I heard you earlier, don't think Veronica wants Dick to know anything about her 'kinks' somehow."

"I didn't mean—" Logan looked hesitant, vaguely pissed-off. The silence settled calmly between them before he asked, "What about Veronica? You and Veronica?"

Duncan wasn't about to give Logan ammunition to kick his ass. They'd never had an actual fist-fight and he wasn't itching to see who would come out on top. Either way he would lose. And part of him wanted to stand and shout petulantly that Veronica was his first and that Logan should have never moved in on his beaten track—but, hey, if that was gonna be the way it was then Veronica would probably have to move towns to get a date. And Duncan would look less than gracious when they flipped him off on their way to go have hot sex. No, just plain sex. Not hot. Wait—

Duncan grimaced as his mind worked in tangent with his hormones to ruin his life.

"I'm over it."

Logan shot him a disbelieving look. Eyebrows raised, lips curved in a cocky smile. Yeah, Logan couldn't have wanted to date anyone else? Someone vacuous, someone easy? No, he _had_ to set his sights on Veronica Mars of all people. And sure, she had to pick that exact time to lower her standards and date a whore like Logan. Duncan was suddenly very glad nobody could read his thoughts, 'cause he just wasn't sounding like a good friend at all. And despite the awkwardness he did still want his friends. He just didn't want them to date each other. That seemed fair.

"I am. It's just difficult. She's not easy to get over."

Logan curved his mouth into an empathetic tint of a smile. "Don't I know it…"

They sat in silence for a moment, sipping beer and thinking of a girl that they both lost at one time or another. Duncan tried not to be bitter that Logan had won the race—after all he hadn't really been competing.

**5.**

It was three hours later that Duncan decided he was officially wasted. A half empty bottle of rum sat between him and Logan and despite the beach being full of people and Veronica being around somewhere he couldn't actually remember anyone drinking with them. That meant they had probably done the damage themselves.

Logan was sprawled on his back, one arm thrown over his stomach, giggling into the mouth of another bottle. Duncan hadn't bothered to ask what Logan was laughing at but it had been the same thing sporadically for at least fifteen minutes and he couldn't deny that his curiosity was peaked.

"What the hell you laughing at, man?"

Logan rolled over onto his side to face Duncan, trying to control his laughter. "I was gonna say you could have my ex… y'know as a trade, but dude, she's your sister." Logan seemed to consider for a moment, his face changing as he added more quietly. "Oh, and she's dead."

Duncan didn't know what to say so he took a swig from the bottle in Logan's hands, pulling it away from the other boy.

Eventually Logan broke the silence, "Hey, want Caitlin?" He seemed to try very hard to keep his expression deadpan, failing horribly as his whole face crumpled into hysterics.

Just then Veronica rounded the corner and came into view. She cocked a disapproving eyebrow in Logan's direction and moved to stand in front of the two boys. "Why do I always get sent on the search and rescue missions?"

"Huh."

"I just got told to get my ass over here before my boyfriend decided to take a swim." She looked over to Duncan who seemed to be the more sober of the two. "You shouldn't have let him get this bad."

"Me?" Duncan was pissed now. Both kinds of pissed. "He's not my responsibility, Veronica. Logan's a big boy, he can look after himself."

"Look at him!"

Logan was now apparently finding their exchange the funniest thing he'd seen in weeks because he was back on his back with his arm over his face choking laugher into his sleeve.

Duncan gritted out, "He's fine."

"I thought you were supposed to be his best friend!" Veronica seemed more upset than she should have been.

"Guys, guys, you know I am still here—" Logan interrupted, mumbling badly through his giggles.

Veronica wasn't impressed. "Shut up."

"Yeah, if I'm a bad best friend that makes you the most _caring_ girlfriend," Duncan's tone was most sarcastic than usual and it seemed to grate with Veronica.

"At least I make sure he doesn't end up in a pool of his own vomit," she defended.

"What a beautiful relationship." Duncan didn't know where the venom in his tone was coming from or why he was spilling it out all over Veronica. Well, okay, he did—but his own frustration shouldn't have been allowed to turn Veronica into his own personal punching bag, hell he'd watched Logan do that for over a year. He should know better but he just couldn't help himself.

"Dude, what's your problem—just 'cause you can't have her—" Logan slurred.

"Don't even start!" Veronica warned Logan, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him to his feet. His weight was too much for her and as he appeared to be resisting it was a losing battle. Duncan considered helping but for the time being it was much more amusing just to watch the power struggle between the unlikely couple.

Finally Veronica turned to him, frustrated. "Will you help me, please?"

Duncan pulled himself unsteadily to his feet, lending a hand. "Didn't want to intrude," he muttered to himself.

Once they had Logan standing he seemed to stop struggling, wrapping his arm tightly around Veronica's shoulders as she ducked under—pressing one hand to his chest and the other around his waist, trying to keep him upright. She swayed a little and Duncan took the other side as they supported Logan back to the car. They hauled him into the backseat and Veronica slammed the door shut, hitting the child locks so that Logan couldn't get back out.

She turned to Duncan, the fight draining out of her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry about him too."

"You don't have to be sorry for Logan… just because you're dating."

"I know, but—he had no right to say what he did. And for the record I know you're not still hung up on me."

"Right, good." It wasn't awkward at all that Duncan was lying through his teeth. In fact he thought of it as a new personal challenge. There was nothing like trying not to think about the small hand sitting apologetically on your arm and what it could be doing to other parts of you. Great fun.

Finally he asked something that he'd been pondering for a while. "Why do you put up with it, Veronica?"

She looked surprised, taken off-guard. "I… care about him. Usually he's fine."

"But today?"

"It's been a hard week." She shrugged. "A couple reporters got into his house. That's why he was at mine."

Duncan felt a momentary sense of relief. "Oh, so you guys aren't…"

"Oh. Uh, no, I mean yes we… um. Just—"

Duncan waved her off, trying to brush off the intense red that was spreading over his face. Luckily the same color was gracing Veronica's cheeks. He wasn't sure if she was embarrassed by the thought of sex altogether or just that it was him standing their inquiring as to whether or not she really fucked his best friend. He didn't know why he really wanted to know in the first place, Duncan guessed he was just kind of a masochist that way.

**6.**

Veronica turned to him, her gaze fluttering hesitantly back to the beach and then the SUV. "I need to go get my purse; I'll be back in a second. Can you watch him?"

"Yeah, sure." Duncan nodded, wondering where the hell Veronica thought Logan was going to go while locked in his car with no keys. Let it never be said that she wasn't overly anxious. Maybe that's what happened when you dated someone who had threatened to throw themselves off a bridge _before_ they found out their father killed their girlfriend.

Why wasn't anything in their lives simple? Duncan wished that the biggest problem in his friendship with Logan could go back to being the never-ending fight to be best at the X-Box or Play station or _anything_ that didn't have to do with sex and death and lies… unless they were pixilated sex and death and lies—then it was okay.

Duncan sighed, moving to lean against the front door of the car. It was only a few moments before he heard a dull tapping coming from behind him and looking to his left Duncan noticed that Logan was now kneeling on the seat by the back window—knocking on the glass.

Squinting he moved to face Logan as the windows inched down. He made sure there was still a good foot and a half of space between himself and the car and wrapped his arms tightly across his chest as Logan moved closer to the window.

"Hey, man," Logan started, his voice only slightly slurred.

Duncan nodded, keeping his eyes trained on the ground. The moment stretched out between them, the longer it got the more awkward. Duncan wondered momentarily where the hell Veronica had stashed her purse, it seemed like she could have quite easily driven to LA, picked up a new one and driven back by now. Of course he could be exaggerating and it could just be the fact that Logan was watching him with a cloudy face.

If it had been anyone else then Duncan might have thought that they were crying. But it was Logan, Duncan's best friend. His best friend who had never, ever cried in front of him—even when he had had plenty of cause to. So the red-rimmed, water eyes were just because the air was salty and his body full of alcohol. They had to be.

"I'm so sorry, man. I know you don't want to hear it, but I'm sorry—about my dad and Veronica and how everything's just gone to shit."

And in that moment Duncan felt like the biggest dick that had ever graced the earth. Logan's words were more like sobs and Duncan swallowed hard in response, wishing desperately that Veronica would return.

"I swear it wasn't to hurt you—" Logan continued his tirade. "—we didn't see it coming, either of us, D."

"Logan." Duncan tried to get the other boy's attention. "Logan. I treated her like shit."

Logan's mouth snapped closed as he looked at Duncan properly for the first time, his trembling lips pressed tightly together to quell the tremor.

"The way I broke up with her. It was out of line. All the times I let you rag on her. I didn't say a fucking word to stop it…"

Logan opened his mouth to protest but Duncan's hand came up.

"Just don't fuck it up with this shit." Duncan gestured to Logan, implying his drunken state. "She's gonna leave you."

Logan nodded quietly, having regained some of his composure. "Are we okay?" he asked carefully.

Duncan sighed, nodding heavily. "We're okay." He nearly jumped out of his skin as Veronica's hand grazed his elbow a curious gaze focusing on Duncan as she spotted Logan hanging out of the back window with full, watery eyes. He just shrugged in response, there wasn't much more he could do.

Veronica nodded and perched herself back into the driver's seat, sending a perky little wave to Duncan before she turned around in her seat—a hand running gently through Logan's hair as he left the window. Veronica seemed to demand a seatbelt and Duncan watched, like it was a car crash, with morbid curiosity.

He stayed—looking after them—as the giant, yellow car pulled out of its parking space and they disappeared. And he thought that maybe, maybe it's more difficult to build things back up than it is to break them in the first place.

Maybe compromise hurt a little. Duncan just sure as hell hoped they were worth it.


End file.
